Planning on the doorstep

planning and the big issues: Rural Housing

Steve Barker

16th January 2014 What planning can do to deliver homes in rural areas?

Planning Advisory Service Workshop

Presented by: Lin Cousins - Three Dragons Jo.Lavis - Rural Housing Solutions First, YOUR thoughts.....?

Is planning for rural housing different?

• Is there anything different about the type of housing that we might want to provide in rural areas?

• Are there different circumstances/factors that affect what or how we deliver in rural areas? We will look at

• National policy and guidance for housing in rural areas

• What this looks like in practice

• Explore with you Viability - the key stone to delivery

• Offer ways you can ensure rural housing is part of your council’s planning approach NPPF: Foundation Stone

3 Ps

- positive
- plan-led
- proactive

R Responsive to different circumstances

E Explicit/specific requirements for rural areas NPPF: Development in Rural Areas

Support development in rural areas to create:

✓ prosperous rural economy – all types of businesses ✓ thriving communities

Requires responsiveness to rural circumstances:

EG: not applying sequential approach to location of small scale rural business

different approaches to sustainable transport – not rule out rural development on ‘use of the car’ grounds NPPF: HOUSING Wide choice – Quality Homes

• Must deliver to meet objectively assessed need • Must have 5 year deliverable site supply (+5% - 20%) • Identify size/tenure and type for particular locations • Policies for providing affordable housing – preferably on site NPPF: Rural housing

**Plan** to meet local needs for market and particularly affordable housing

Consider allowing market housing where will significantly increase affordable to meet local need

Locate development where it will enhance vitality of community – **hubs and clusters**

Avoid isolated dwellings in the countryside National Planning Guidance: Rural Housing

“Assessing housing need and allocating sites should be considered at a strategic level and through the Local Plan and/or neighbourhood plan process.

However, all settlements can play a role in delivering sustainable development – and so blanket policies restricting housing development in some settlements and preventing other settlements from expanding should be avoided unless their use can be supported by robust evidence.” Evidence Requirements

**Housing Need Assessments**

- Sub-market analysis
- Use of existing data over surveys
- Include:
  - Population projections and structure
  - Housing market signals
    - prices/rents
    - affordability
    - turnover

**Land Availability Assessment**

- Building Evidence for your rural policies
- Housing Needs Assessments
- Use range of existing data
- Ward level data at a minimum
  - ONS Neighbourhood Stats
  - County Council research team(?)
- CBL/Waiting list data at settlement level
  - level and type of need & turnover
- Land availability assessment
- ALL sites
  - Call for land includes all sites/ landowners/local publicity Policy should address divergences between local conditions and comparator areas within and outside the LA. Community Led Housing

Needs supportive Local Plan Framework for: housing development – including affordable policies for community led development

LAs legal duty to support Neighbourhood Plans through:

- technical assistance – e.g. evidence/planning advice
- organising the independent examination
- responsible for organising the community referendum

Some LAs incorporating Community Plans into Local Plan Example

Shropshire Council – Development Strategy (Policy CS4)

– 35% of development to rural areas – Communities put themselves forward as possible ‘hub’ or ‘cluster’ – Intense community engagement in deciding type of development needed – Rewards for accepting development Example

Harrogate Borough Council

• Differential rural affordable housing policies – threshold = – Affordable housing requirement = on sites \<3 units 40% in rural – Allocates rural exception sites with • Affordable Rent/Shared Equity (50%) • Cross subsidy from local needs sale housing – Resale price pegged at affordable value Example

Cornwall Council Cross-subsidy on rural exception sites

- Must meet proven need and have community support
- Target 60% affordable housing
- Land price set at no more than £13k per plot
- Unfettered open market provides cross-subsidy ANY QUESTIONS? EXERCISE

Without discussion - please will each person at your table rank the four policies from 1 to 4 1 is for most effective in your area 4 is the least useful?

Then please add up the scores so your table can see the overall ranking of policies at your table.

Discussion points: • What are the strengths of the most 'popular' policy and why is this? • What would you change to improve the least well rated policy? • Policy Example 4 deals with Rural Exception Sites - does this cover everything you want to see in a RES policy Understanding viability helps you meet the challenges

• Cannot ignore........

• Informed assessments = mutual understanding/ transparency = saves time and resources = informs policies

• Evidence = Defensible plans, CIL and decisions

SECURES THE BEST DEAL AVAILABLE Viability

• A first mention in C6/98! – increasingly visible..! • NPPF – ‘sites and the scale of development ... should not be subject to such a scale of obligations and policy burdens that their ability to be developed viably is threatened’ and “provide a competitive returns to a willing land owner and willing developer” • Viability of whole plan (including SHLAA) + individual schemes • NPG – no single approach to assessing viability! Viability – rural dimension

An additional rural option for delivery........

Consider whether “...some market housing would facilitate the provision of significant additional affordable housing to meet local needs..”

(will look at the implications of this later...) Gives us 3 potential housing scheme types........

| Allocated sites in Local Plan | Residual valuation drives land price | |-------------------------------|-------------------------------------| | With affordable housing contribution | Market return for landowner | | (part of 5 yr land supply) | |

| Windfall site | Residual valuation drives land price | |--------------------------------|-------------------------------------| | With affordable housing contribution | Market return for landowner |

| Rural Exception site | Value reflects that this is not a site | |--------------------------------|----------------------------------------| | Primary function to provide | allocated for market development | | affordable housing | BUT landowner will want more than | | | agric value | Viability principles

“We recommend that the residual land value approach is taken when assessing the viability of plan-level policies....” Residual value – basic building blocks

Total development value

[ \\text{Minus} ]

Development costs (incl. build costs and return to developer)

= Gross residual value

[ \\text{Minus} ]

CIL + planning obligations (including AH)

= Net residual value (available to pay for land) But this is not just about AH......

Whole plan viability

- Affordable housing

- Quality - CfSH

- Dwelling type and sizes

- S106 and CIL Impact of recent changes to funding policy on viability

- Cut in HCA grant by 40%

- Cut in grant rates by 50%

- Higher cost of loans

- Affordable Rent – may help Impact of local needs and perpetuity policies on viability

• Too restrictive = risk to lenders (development and mortgage)

No lending = no funding = no delivery

• Keep local connection criteria realistic • Have wide final geography for cascade • Appropriate timescales within cascade REFRESHMENT BREAK BREAK BREAK Demonstration of ‘basic’ viability model Viability exercise

• What key trade-offs does the model highlight for you?

• What other factors might affect viability that are not covered in the basic model?

• What is the key information you need for decision making (plan or scheme specific)? Exercise Viability

• Looking back at the sample policies, does what you now understand about viability change your scores? Councillors are Leaders

- Within the community

- Within the Council

- Training/master classes – Cornwall

- Part of the Development Team - Test Valley

- Visits and feedback – Derbyshire Dales Exercise

• What do you think is the role of a councillor – In policy development – In scheme specific proposals

• What would help you/your councillors fulfill their role Key points What will YOU do?

• On the post card write down an action that you will take as a result of this event

• Put it somewhere safe (but don’t forget where)

• Do it! Thank You Come and see us

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